Tag: unemployed

Unemployment can be one of the most stressful times in a person’s life. It can lead to depression, divorce and drug and/or alcohol dependancy. Ask most people who have lost their jobs at some point in their adult lives and they’ll tell you that it’s something they hope to never experience again.

For starters, most people don’t jump up two weight classes four weeks prior to their 41st birthday to knock out a fighter who was and still is considered by many to be the greatest heavyweight mixed martial artist who ever lived. Most people don’t pull off a feat like that four months after upsetting a tough young champion to take the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt. Most people don’t win every fight since October 2006, save a trio of title bouts. And most people don’t become concurrent champions in one organization in two weight classes.

It’s no surprise then that Henderson, whose stock has arguably never been higher, finds himself without a contract and it’s equally not surprising that he isn’t worried where he’ll next ply his trade.

(‘Crank my neck all you want…I still say…a strategy that involves nationalizing banks…is untenable…over a long period of time.’)

Now here’s a rare positive story coming out of the strange place where economic disaster and martial arts training meet. The Gracie Barra gym in Clearwater, Florida is offering free classes to people who have recently lost their jobs. As a way to ease the stress of the unemployed and keep them from killing themselves and their families, owner Eduardo de Lima will let you train for free for six months or until you get a job, whichever comes first:

"I always said to my students, ‘If you lose your job, just come in anyway.’ It’s more important for them to work out, because it releases the stress of life," said De Lima, 40, who’s been teaching jiu-jitsu for 16 years. "When (people) get stressed from money problems, they do dumb things," he said, citing the Los Angeles man who recently shot his family and then himself after losing his job.

Stress relief, huh? I guess that’s one explanation behind this free jiu-jitsu offer. Another explanation might be that de Lima is training an army of the economically disenfranchised. Think about it: they’re desperate, angry, and have nothing to lose. They also don’t have to go to work, so they can train pretty much all day.

Sure, it sounds crazy now. But we’ll see whose crazy in six months when de Lima and his legions sweep through Washington D.C. and then Wall Street, taking over the country and its financial institutions via armbars and rear naked chokes. Viva la jiu-jitsu revolution! Free gi’s for everyone!